Anti-Semitism—the intolerance against Jewish people—has been rampant in our media and language for decades. Now, in the light of the Capitol riots on Jan. 6 and extreme right-wing backlash against the inauguration, America is showing its ugly, anti-Semitic face.
Discrimination against Jews is not a new issue in the United States. The documentation of the attacks on Jews stretches to as early as 1915 during the Leo Frank case in which Frank was wrongly accused of murdering a girl solely based on his religion and ethnicity. After Frank was arrested, he was kidnapped from jail and lynched by the Klu Klux Klan. This event sparked the reignition of the Klu Klux Klan as well as anti-Semitic rhetoric in the United States. Anti-semitism today looks like Trump supporters brandishing the Nazi flag inside the Capitol. This specific action, as well as the shirts with pro-Nazi imagery and words, have struck fear in the hearts of Jewish Americans.
Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, stated that the insurrection was, “not so much a tipping point [for anti-Semitism but rather] the latest explicit example of how (it) is part of what animates the narratives of extremists in this country.” This statement shows that although the riots were in retaliation of the election results, some people still used the occasion to showcase their hatred.
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